Wakeskating: a Fun Alternative To Wakeboarding
Friday, October 17th, 2014
While most people are familiar with water sports like wakeboarding and wakesurfing, a relatively new sport that’s edging its way into mainstream use is wakeskating. What makes this sport unique is the fact that the rider is not secured to his or her board. This allows for greater freedom and control over maneuvers, but it also adds another level of difficulty.
What Is Wakeskating?
Wakekating is performed using a board similar in design to a wakeboard (usually made of maple or fiberglass). The rider plants his or her feet on the board and performs various tricks while being towed by a personal water craft. Depending on the boat, water conditions, and weight of the rider, a typical wakestater will achieve speeds between 10-20 miles per hour.
While wakeskating has just recently gained mainstream popularity, the sport has actually been around since the late 1970s. The earliest examples of the sport featured riders on long surfboard-like boards that were pulled by boats. Wakeskating didn’t receive any major notoriety until the 1990s, when young thrill-seekers began performing it in lakes and ponds throughout the U.S.
Performing wakeskating tricks is inherit more difficult than wakeboarding or wakesurfing due to the fact that the rider is not bound to his or her board. Some of the different tricks performed by wakeskaters includes lip tricks, flat tricks, inside-out, wake-to-wake, and re-entry.
Wakeskating Tips:
If you’re serious about the sport, invest in a pair of wakeskating shoes (yes, they make shoes for wakeskating). These shoes are designed with special quick-drying materials that prevent water from pooling up inside. DVS was the first company to create a pair of wakeskating shoes in 2004, but there are several other brands available today.
If you aren’t going to wear shoes, make sure your board has griptape attached to the top; otherwise, you may struggle to maintain control.
Perform land-based exercises that improve your balance and stability, such as front planks, side planks, bicycle crunches, leg raises, dumbbell lunges, dumbbell squats, etc.
Lean your body back so your feet are naturally pushing forward.
Don’t move your back foot once it’s planted on the board. Your back foot is essentially what controls your direction and balance, and moving it can throw you off course.
Experience in snowboarding and/or skateboarding will drastically improve your proficiency in wakeskating.
Plant your feet down on the board when attempting to ride over a wake.